Broadcom Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Athena Semiconductors, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in the design and development of mobile digital television tuner and low-power WiFi technology. Industry analysts expect the market for low-power WiFi chips to reach more than 104 million units per year by 2008, a compound annual growth rate of 121%, while mobile digital TV tuner chips should reach 81 million units by 2010, a CAGR of 205% over five years.

"Mobile television is a very exciting technology, and we expect that by combining Athena's DVB-H tuner with Broadcom's mobile multimedia technology for H.264 decoding, we will create the core of an industry-leading mobile digital TV chipset," said Robert Rango, senior vice president and general manager of Broadcom's Mobile & Wireless Group. "In addition, Athena brings low-power WiFi design capabilities and a seasoned engineering team with a proven track record whose expertise complements Broadcom's existing engineering resources."

Athena Semiconductors is headquartered in Fremont, California, with highly experienced design teams in Bangalore, India and Athens, Greece. The group in India consists of 40 engineers, and the team in Greece consists of 23 engineers. The addition of the India team to Broadcom's workforce represents a key step in achieving the company's continuing goal of expanding its presence in India.

In connection with the acquisition, Broadcom expects to pay approximately $21.6 million in cash in exchange for all outstanding shares of Athena capital stock and other rights of Athena. A portion of the consideration payable to the stockholders of Athena will be placed into escrow pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the merger. The merger transaction is expected to close during Broadcom's fourth fiscal quarter, which ends Dec. 31.

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